Phantoms Weekly Notes

Published on December 10, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Adirondack Phantoms News Release


UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Friday, December 14 - Phantoms vs. Toronto, 7:05: The Phantoms and Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) meet in the only opportunity for Phantoms fans to see Toronto in person this regular season. The two teams met just over a week ago, on December 2, in a game that was the third in three nights for Philadelphia and came at the end of a road trip that exceeded 1,500 miles. Toronto took a 4-2 win in that meeting. These two teams go into the week tied for third in the American Hockey League's overall standings with 35 points apiece.

Saturday, December 15 - Phantoms at Norfolk Admirals, 7:00: The Phantoms will be looking to snap a recent funk when they visit the Virginia shore to play the Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay Lightning). Philadelphia has lost two consecutive games to Norfolk after winning the first three of the season series. This is the sixth of 10 games scheduled between the two clubs this season. They'll play again on December 27, but after that will not see one another until March 7.

PHANTOMS RESET

The Phantoms are 17-7-1 for 35 points through 25 games. The team has a five-point lead over Albany in the East Division with one fewer game played. In the Eastern Conference, the Phantoms are five points behind Providence and three points behind Hartford; Providence had a six-game unbeaten streak snapped yesterday and Hartford is currently on an eight-game unbeaten streak. In the overall AHL standings, the Phantoms are one of four teams tied for third place with 35 points, again behind Providence and Hartford.

Last year, the Phantoms did not reach 35 points until January 21 and did not reach 17 wins until January 27.

Team History through 25 games:

2007-08 team: 17-7-1-0 for 35 points

2004-05 Calder Cup team: 19-5-1-0 for 39 points

1997-98 Calder Cup team: 14-6-1-4 for 33 points

1996-97 team (best record in franchise history): 14-5-2-4 for 34 points

MAYA AND MIGUEL COMING OUT ON FRIDAY

This Friday night, Maya and Miguel from PBS Kids will be at the Wachovia Spectrum when the Phantoms host the Toronto Marlies. The duo will be on the concourse during the game, and fans can sign up at the WHYY table on the concourse to come to a meet and greet in Bullies after the game!

HELP OUT WITH HELPING HANDS

This Sunday is the annual Helping Hands auction when the Phantoms host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. For the eighth consecutive year, the entire Phantoms roster and selected Flyers players have created unique artwork by using paint to make real handprints on 11x17 cards, which are framed and then auctioned off to benefit the Children's Miracle Network at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In the seven years that the Phantoms have participated, they've helped raise over $39,000 for CMN. The majority of the cards will be sold via silent auction on the concourse during the game, with selected cards auctioned off live in Bullies following the game.

POWERFULLY PLAYING

The Phantoms have scored at least one power play goal in seven consecutive games and have 11 goals overall in that stretch. The Phantoms have at least one PPG in 23 of their 25 games so far this season, with nine of those games featuring multiple power play goals. They continue to lead the league in power play goals with 38, while sitting second in efficiency at 23.5 percent.

During that same 11-game span, the Phantoms allowed just three PPG to their opponents. Two of those three power play goals came in Hershey on Saturday night, marking just the third time this season the Phantoms have allowed more than one power play goal. The team has allowed two goals on one other occasion and three PPG in one other game. The Phantoms have held their opponent without a power play goal nine times and allowed one goal in 13 games. The team's penalty kill is also in second place in the AHL at 87.1 percent of chances denied.

DOWNIE MAKES NHL DEBUT, POTULNY TO GET A TURN

Steve Downie made his NHL debut last Wednesday in Minnesota and also played Friday night in Colorado. Downie went without a point and was -1 with an average of 5:08 of ice time per game. He was returned to the Phantoms on Sunday and Ryan Potulny was recalled, making him available for this week's three-game Flyers homestand.

PLAYING WELL WITH OTHERS

The Phantoms currently rank third in the AHL with 653 PIM, but they were well-behaved over the weekend. The Phantoms and their opponents combined for just 39 penalty minutes on 18 infractions. The Phantoms themselves recorded just two penalties for four minutes on Friday, their lowest count of the season. Ironically, one of those two penalties was on Alexandre Picard, who only has three minors called against him in 24 appearances this season. On Saturday, the Phantoms were whistled just five times for 10 minutes.

POTULNY NOMINATED FOR PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Phantoms nominated Ryan Potulny for Rbk/AHL Player of the Week consideration this week. Potulny returned from a three-game injury hiatus to post a goal and two assists in two games this weekend, along with third star honors on Friday night and first star honors on Saturday. He scored Philadelphia's only goal in Friday night's 2-1 loss to Norfolk, and assisted on two of Philadephia's three tallies in Saturday night's 3-2 win over Hershey. All three of Potulny's points came on the power play. On Sunday, Potulny was recalled to the Philadelphia Flyers and will be available when the club hosts Pittsburgh in a nationally-televised game on Tuesday night. Potulny has only played in 15 games due to a recurring injury this season, but is one of just two Phantoms on the team who is playing at a point-per-game pace, with nine goals and six assists for 15 points. He is one of four players to lead the team with nine goals despite having missed 10 games.

NOT A LOT OF SHOTS

The Phantoms have not allowed an opponent to surpass 30 shots on goal since Bridgeport reached 31 shots on November 9, a stretch of 12 consecutive games. Philadelphia has been below the 30-shot mark three times during that period, but has outshot the opponent in two of those three games. The Phantoms were outshot in eight of their first 11 games, but have only been outshot once in the 14 games since then.

PHANTOMS NOTABLES

Since allowing five goals in the first period on Nov. 21 in Norfolk, the Phantoms have allowed just one first period goal in a stretch of seven games... Overall, the Phantoms have given up just 58 goals this season, which is one more than league-leaders Albany and Milwaukee, who have given up 57 apiece... The Friday night loss to Norfolk gave the Phantoms their first three-game losing streak of the season. It was snapped on Saturday with a 3-2 win over Hershey. Despite that three-game losing streak, Philadelphia saw just a minimal increase in its team goals-against average because the Phantoms only gave up eight goals in the three contests, resulting in a rise from 2.27 to 2.32.

TOYOTA CUP STANDINGS

Brian Boucher continues to lead the annual race for the Toyota Cup. Players are awarded points each time they are chosen as a star of the game, with five points given for a first star, three points for a second star and one point for a third star. The player with the most points at the end of the season will win a monetary donation to the charity of his choice courtesy of Toyota.

Player 1st Star 2nd Star 3rd Star Points

Brian Boucher 4 2 1 27

Darren Reid 3 0 1 16

Ryan Potulny 2 1 0 13

Steve Downie 1 2 0 11

Jared Ross 2 0 1 11

Jonathan Matsumoto 0 3 1 10

Denis Tolpeko 1 1 1 9

Boyd Kane 1 1 0 8

Pete Zingoni 0 2 0 6

Alexandre Picard 1 0 0 5

Stefan Ruzicka 0 1 1 4

Kyle Greentree 0 0 3 3

Scott Munroe 0 1 0 3

Frederik Cabana 0 0 1 1

Nate Guenin 0 0 1 1

David Laliberte 0 0 1 1

PHANTOMS HOCKEY ON THE INTERNET

The Phantoms have teamed up with the Philadelphia Area Dodge Dealers to provide free audio broadcasts of all Phantoms games, home and away, this season. The Phantoms official website, Phantomshockey.com, in conjunction with league and team partner B2 Networks, will provide the home for the audio. In addition to the games, Dodge will also bring the ever-popular Coaches Corner to fans on Phantomshockey.com. New editions of the weekly sit-down with Phantoms head coach Craig Berube will be posted to the site every Tuesday.

WATCH THE GAMES THROUGH B2

Every Phantoms game this season is being broadcast with streaming video through the league's partnership with B2 Networks. A ticket for the game is $6, which allows fans to watch the game via a broadband Internet connection from their own homes! Visit www.phantomshockey.com for more details.

TICKET INFORMATION

All kids tickets for all Phantoms games are just $10. To purchase, go to phantomshockey.com or call 1-800-298-4200.

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Date Opponent Site Time

Friday, December 14 Toronto Marlies Wachovia Spectrum 7:05

Saturday, December 15 Norfolk Admirals Norfolk Scope 7:15

Sunday, December 16 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Wachovia Spectrum 5:05

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Date Opponent Site Result Score

Friday, December 7 Norfolk Admirals Wachovia Spectrum L 2-1

Saturday, December 8 Hershey Bears GIANT Center W 3-2

Live audio and video broadcasts are available for every game at Phantomshockey.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2007


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